LEXINGTON, KY APPARATUS STRIKES AND KILLS PEDESTRIAN

Sunday, December 9, 2012
A Lexington fire truck was not en route to an emergency call
when it hit and killed a woman walking in downtown Lexington late
Saturday, police said.

The pedestrian died after being struck by
the Lexington Division of Fire's Engine 9 at the corner of Broadway and
Main Street about 10:15 p.m., Lt. Richard Willoby said.
She had not been identified early Sunday pending notification of family.
The police Collision Reconstruction Unit was investigating.

Willoby said the fire truck was "non-Signal 9" when the wreck occurred, meaning its lights and sirens were not activated.

"They were driving with traffic. They were in route actually to the hospital to pick up their crew," he said.

The
incident initially was reported as a hit and run, but when police and
rescue workers arrived they found that was not the case, David Biroschik
of the Lexington police said; instead, they learned the fire engine had
hit the woman.

The truck appeared to have been driving southwest
on Broadway; it was parked on Broadway between Main Street and High
Street beside Triangle Park, inside an area cordoned off by police.

The
woman's body was near the crosswalk across Broadway, though Willoby
said Sunday morning it was too early to tell whether she was in the
crosswalk when the wreck happened. It also was unclear which direction
she was headed or who had the right of way, he said.

Police were reviewing surveillance camera footage in the area "to look and see exactly where she was."

As
police continued investigating about 1:30 a.m. Sunday, the woman's body
remained on Broadway by the Christmas tree in Triangle Park, covered by
a white sheet. Dozens of passersby leaving bars about 1 a.m. glanced
curiously at the scene, some gasping.

Police directed pedestrians away from the scene, which was blocked off by a dozen police cars and yellow police tape.

Willoby said police had been using cameras and "high-tech" scanners to take measurements and document the scene.

"We want to make sure we document the scene the best we can," he said.

The
woman's body was loaded into the coroner's van about 1:45 a.m. Sunday.
Police said they would be investigating for several more hours.

Neither
the fire department nor the mayor's office was commenting on the
incident late Saturday. Susan Straub, spokeswoman for Mayor Jim Gray,
said the city was waiting for the results of the police investigation.

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